Jesus’ Authority Challenged

20 And it happened that on one of the days while^[a] he was teaching the people in the temple courts^[b] and proclaiming the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes approached together with the elders ² and said, saying to him, “Tell us, by what authority you are doing these things, or who is the one who gave you this authority? ³ And he answered and^[c] said to them, “I also will ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? ⁵ And they discussed this^[d] with one another, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” ⁷ And they replied that they did not know where it was from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”